


Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die

by KimchiKitty7



Series: The Caleb Chronicles [1]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-03-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:53:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23336434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimchiKitty7/pseuds/KimchiKitty7
Summary: A look back at the past under Chimera's occupation of Narcissus in Chains.
Series: The Caleb Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686178
Kudos: 4





	Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die

**Author's Note:**

> One of my favorite things in writing is to take a character with very little depth from the author and make them into a fully formed character. Caleb is one of my favorites, and it feels like he gets very little love in the series. This may be a jumping-off point for me to write more about my favorite minor characters if I can keep feeling inspired. I have no beta, all mistakes are my own. This is my first attempt at writing in a long time. Constructive criticism and comments are welcome.

I am a person. I am a person. I used to be a person...

My name is Caleb. I have been the property of a madman for over two years. I'm starting to forget what my life was like before he took me.

I was a stupid kid. Home from college for spring break, feeling young and strong and invincible. I didn't want to listen to my parent's litany of reasons that I was a disappointment as a son. I was too loud. Too extreme. Too open. Just too much. My father had never really forgiven me for coming out as bisexual. I guess I was supposed to stay in the closet, never talk about it, and do what was expected of me.

I had gone home with my roommate instead. His parents were rarely home and didn't really care what he did. They hardly noticed I was there.

Joliet, Illinois was the same as most midwestern towns. The only thing of interest to do was to drink. A lot. We ended up at a bar on the edges of the city. An ancient honky-tonk that had seen better days. The customers were perched on their stools hanging over their beers while the bartender wiped down the barhop with a dirty rag.

We grabbed a table off to the side near the jukebox, and I went to the bar to get our order. A pitcher of beer and a plate of nacho fries. According to him they were a house specialty, and since they make it so well, there's no point in arguing. He was paying, so I really wasn't arguing. I got the first round, and well... It's pretty much a blur after that.

At some point my roommate had bailed, and I was leaned up against the side of the jukebox, with this older man flirting with me. He knew me so well, and I was so easy.

He told me how pretty I was. How long he'd been looking for someone just like me. He bought me drinks and made me feel special. Honestly, it wasn't hard. I was just so fucking desperate to feel like I was worth something...

Well, I'm worth something now, aren't I? It's been two years. Two years of being a sadist's whore. It never ends. It just never ends.

My name is Caleb. I am a person. I am a person. I used to be a person...

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of a writing assignment challenge from the podcast Start with This. If you haven't checked it out, you should. The challenge was to use a random number generator with three lists. One was top US cities, one was a list of popular international foods, and the last one was a compilation of bluegrass songs. One sentence from the description of the food was to be used, as is, in the story. This is the result! I hope you enjoyed.
> 
> The title comes from my song on the list, which I listened to while writing: Don't Let Your Sweet Love Die by Red Smiley, Don Reno, & the Tennessee Cut-Up.


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